Danish Crown's beef division reports profits

Danish Crown's Beef Division reports revenue for the financial year of just over DKK3.1 billion and a net profit of DKK52.7 million.

The Beef Division was also able to attract more animals than last year.

Lorenz Hansen, managing director of the Beef Division, said, "These are very satisfactory results in light of the very considerable challenges which we have faced during the year. The bottom dropped out of the hide market following the financial crisis, and for a long time prices were negatively affected. The meat market has also been significantly impacted by the global financial crisis. Consumers have had less money to spend, and this has meant fewer expensive steaks and more minced meat instead. All in all, this has put prices under pressure.''

On the positive side, the processing department in Sdr. Felding, the slaughterhouse in Husum and the rationalisations realised under DC Future have contributed to improved overall results. This will strengthen the competitive edge of the Beef Division in future.

"Our processing strategy is bearing fruit. The department in Sdr. Felding has, in the space of a very short time, increased its market share, and new high-quality products look set to strengthen our position further in future. Capacity has been expanded at the slaughterhouse in Husum, which is taking on more orders than previously. And throughout the organisation, focus has been on costs with a view to meeting the targets set out in DC Future," said Hansen.

The number of animals slaughtered was just over 7,500 higher than the year before. All in all, 269,472 Danish animals were slaughtered, which means that Danish Crown accounted for 57.6 percent of slaughterings in Denmark against 57.4 percent last year, said Peder Philipp, Chairman of Danish Crown's Beef Producer Committee.